CHINA. Offshore duty-free sales in Hainan province reached CNY785 million (US$111 million) during the all-important National Day holidays (Golden Week) from 1 to 7 October, the Hainan Provincial Department of Tourism, Culture, Radio, Film and Television and Sports revealed this week in figures that underline continued soft Chinese consumption.
Last year, Golden Week ran from 29 September to 6 October, generating sales of CNY1.33 billion (US$182.4 million) from 170,000 shoppers.
Even allowing for the extra shopping day in 2023, this year’s total graphically underlines the weakness of consumer spending with holiday sales down by -39.1% year-on-year (on a seven days vs eight basis).
The number of shoppers reached 110,200 this Golden Week with an average consumption of CNY7,124 (US$1,007) per person.
This year the province received 4.13 million tourists, up +10.7% year-on-year on a comparable basis. Among them, there were 1.63 million overnight visitors, a +12.4% increase, and 2.5 million day-trip tourists, up +9.5%.
Total visitor expenditure of tourists rose just +1.1% to CNY5.74 billion (US$811.7 million), further evidence of dampened consumer sentiment.
The average occupancy rate of guest rooms in tourist accommodation units across the province was 63.24%, a year-on-year increase of +3.2%.
Hainan’s duty-free retailers ran a host of promotions to drive consumption during an all-important period for the sector.
They cooperated with multiple brands to open pop-up stores, provide discounts, offer membership points and gifts, and host testings and tastings. The Hainan provincial government also issued consumer coupons to further boost spending. ✈
